Please help me to cut down nearly one year old's breastfeeds

[nearlytherenow]

DS2 is almost one. He still breastfeeds a lot through the day. On an average day he has feeds at 6am (on waking), 7am (because he's dozed off again for an hour or so), 9ish (pre-nap), often 1ish (post lunch / pre-nap), 4ish and 7ish.

To be honest I am just getting fed up now. He pesters me constantly for feeds. He climbs up me, pulls at my top, lunges at me with his mouth wide open etc etc. I can't sit him on my knee and read a book or have a cuddle without him wanting to feed. Attempts to distract him rarely work, and he throws a complete hissy fit if I don't feed him when he's looking for milk.

I'm completely happy with feeding morning and night, and when he's sick or sore, but on the whole I'd like to cut out the daytime feeding now. Or at least some of it. I can only see this getting worse.

Any ideas? He eats absolutely loads (finger food mainly, we BLWd him, but he just sits and shovels it in - 3 meals and 2 snacks) - so I really don't think that it's hunger. And I offer him lots of water, and have recently been giving cows milk with snacks. None of this makes any difference.

I fed DS1 until he was 15 months but he'd lost interest during the day by this age, so it feels all new to me. Any suggestions welcome.

Which of the feeds are yuo unhappy with nearly. Are you happy to feed at 6 and 7 so that you get an extra hour in bed or do you want to feed him at 6 and then take him down for breakfast at 7 or just take him straight down for breakfast at 6?

My DS was only feeding morning and evening at this age but he also woke during the night for feeds. DD was pretty much as you describe your DS2. Just out of interest, when you read to him do you sit in the same place as you bf? Only ask because my DD always wanted a feed if I sat in the place she associated with feeding.

Haven't got much advice. You could follow the "don't offer, don't refuse" tatic and see if that helps. Once he's one you can start offering milk after solids so you could give him is breakfast and then a feed. Which would probably just mean losing or moving the 4pm feed. Maybe you could give that one when he wakes from his nap?

Kellymom has some good information on feeding a 1 year old here which also discusses feeling overwhelmed.

Thanks for your reply. Jilted. I'll have a look through the Kellymom stuff. I think not offering and not refusing might be the way forward, it's got to be worth a shot. I think I do sometimes offer when he's not asking, just because it's a 'feed time' (using this term quite loosely!) and we're about to go out or something.

I'm fine with the 6am and 7am feeds, and with bedtime. I think I'd like to get down to one proper "daytime" feed, just to give me a bit of a chance to get stuff done and play with both boys a bit more.

That's a good point about reading where I feed. I suppose I do. Although I feed him on most of the chairs in the house at some point during the day . I might try reading sitting on the floor though - maybe that would fool him!